From Apathy to Effectiveness: Defeating Our Own Worst Enemy – Part I

Complaining about the seeming inexorable march of tyranny from the comfort of our easy chair while surfing Facebook on our laptop is all too easy. I know, I find myself there all too often. But the idea that it is inexorable is really a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we always answer the question “what can I do?” with “nothing” . . . that’s exactly what we’ll do: nothing. When we do nothing, we ensure tyranny wins by default. It often looks overwhelming, and leaves us feeling like we need to become superheros to have any real impact. The reality, however, is much different. The reality is that we do not act alone, and acting together, we can give tyranny the “death by a thousand cuts” it so justly deserves. I feel the need here to be abundantly clear: I am NOT speaking of acts of violence taken against the human agents of tyranny. In fact, our aim should be to dismantle the tyranny we face using every peaceful means possible. When we realize we act together, we realize this is not only possible, but inevitable.

Every example of overthrown tyranny, requires someone, somewhere, to take action. From the courageous warriors that fought for the founding of our nation, to the peaceful efforts of the Velvet Revolution of 1989, to the cultural tyranny Martin Luther King fought against. No battle was ever won, no great change in culture ever accomplished, without people actually taking action. The cause of liberty is not advanced from the comfort of our collective sofas.

This brings us to the question: how, practically, can we take that action, and go from apathy to effectiveness? What can we actually do, now, to fight for liberty? Stay tuned. In the next three segments of this series we’ll be discussing what I see as the most important and effective types of action we patriots can take.